


for what it's worth

by maki_senpai



Series: RinHaru Week 2020 [1]
Category: Free!
Genre: Confessions, Day 2, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Long-Distance Relationship, M/M, RinHaru Week 2020, Rinharu Week, a dash of soumako, fake long distance relationship, they are dumb and in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:01:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28308687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maki_senpai/pseuds/maki_senpai
Summary: "My boyfriend!" Rin's voice squeaked an octave higher. Haruka's English was, admittedly, not so great, but he's been working on it, so he understood full well what Rin referred to him as. Haruka saw Rin's... acquaintance face fall and could basically see his heart breaking in 740p."Really?" He breathed out."Yup! High school sweethearts and all that jazz." Rin lied a little too easily.Brent turned to Haru again, his expression filled with melancholy and jealousy."You're really Rin's boyfriend?"Haruka sighed and had to dig through his brain for his mental English dictionary and answered, "Yes. That is correct. Rin is my boyfriend and I am Rin's."
Relationships: Matsuoka Rin/Nanase Haruka
Series: RinHaru Week 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2073357
Comments: 10
Kudos: 86
Collections: Rin & Haru Week





	for what it's worth

**Author's Note:**

> RinHaru Week 2020, Day 2: Red prompt - Long Distance  
> Fake dating AU

"So there's this guy, his name is Brent. He swims at my university and specializes in breastroke. He's… nice, but he has this huge crush on me and won't lay off." Rin looked frustrated and other mixtures of emotion. Even through the screen of Haru's phone, he could distinguish every single feeling Rin displayed animatedly (except for the most obvious one.)

"Why are you telling me this?" Haruka deadpanned. 

"Can't I rant to my friend about an annoying guy?" 

Haru blinked in response and Rin took this as an indication to continue. 

"Anyway, I've told him so many times I'm not interested, but he doesn't seem to take a hint and I'm trying really hard to be nice about it. I have half a mind to just–" Rin raised his fist to the camera and Haru raised a brow. 

"How threatening." 

"Haru, this is a serious matter." 

"Okay. File a restraining order." 

"Okay, not  _ that _ serious. Ugh, you're impossible!" 

"I am the last person you should probably talk to about this." 

"Yeah, well Makoto and Sousuke are too busy with each other to even answer my calls, so I'm stuck with you." 

"Tragic." 

"Very. Anyway, how were yo–" Rin was cut off by a man calling out to him. Rin flinched and turned to his direction with a forced smile. 

_ "Oh, hey Brent…"  _ Rin said in English. Haruka listened intently and watched as a brunette man, a little taller than Rin, came into view. He had hazel eyes that looked at Rin with a lot of adoration. Too much, actually and it was making Haruka feel a lot of negative things. 

_ "How are ya, Rin? I haven't seen you all day!"  _ Brent's thick Australian accent made it a bit difficult for Haru to decipher what he was saying, making him squint at his phone as if it would help him understand better. 

_ "Oh, yeah! Just been busy and all…"  _ Rin chuckles uncomfortably, clearly wanting to get out of Brent's vicinity. Haru saw how Brent looked at Rin's phone curiously and smiled at him. 

_ "Hello, mate!"  _ He greeted Haru like they were so familiar with each other. Haruka just waved half-heartedly, not wanting to have anything to do with this Brent guy. 

_ "Who's he?"  _ He turned to Rin once more, the same look of adoration there, making Haruka's blood boil, though he didn't know why. 

_ "My boyfriend!"  _ Rin's voice squeaked an octave higher. Haruka's English was, admittedly, not so great, but he's been working on it, so he understood full well what Rin referred to him as. Haruka saw Brent’s face fall and could basically see his heart breaking in 740p. 

_ "Really?" _ He breathed out. 

_ "Yup! High school sweethearts and all that jazz."  _ Rin lied a little too easily. 

Brent turned to Haru again, his expression filled with melancholy and jealousy. 

_ "You're really Rin's boyfriend?"  _

Haruka sighed and had to dig through his brain for his mental English dictionary and answered,  _ "Yes. That is correct. Rin is my boyfriend and I am Rin's." _

Saying those words did  _ things _ to Haruka's heart, but chose to ignore them as he always did whenever the feeling would arise. He could see Rin's face flush and see his eyes tell him a silent 'thank you for going along with this.' He tried hard not to roll his eyes, aware that Brent was still watching him. 

_ "Lucky man, you are." _ Brent commented. 

_ "Yes. I am. I have to go."  _ He drifted his gaze to Rin, his eyes telling him 'we'll talk later' and watched Rin nod in acknowledgement. 

_ "Bye, Haru!"  _ Rin said in English,  _ "Talk later?"  _

_ "Yes. I love you. Goodbye."  _ Haruka replied in the same language. He saw Rin's eyes widen before he hung up. Surely he said the right thing to emphasize the lie Rin was trying to sell by saying that, right? 

For some reason however, despite the intent of saying it without meaning, Haru couldn't help but feel the weight of those words and how much he really  _ did _ mean them. And those feelings he chose to ignore had come back to bite him in the ass full-force. 

_ Lucky man, you are. _

The words echoed in Haru's mind as he made his way to his afternoon practice. He did feel that way. He felt lucky to have Rin in his life. Lucky to have been able to mend their bond and come out stronger than ever. Lucky to have someone like Rin be his guiding light that helped him find his dream. 

His dream to swim and take on the world. 

More specifically, to take on the world  _ with Rin.  _

Haru tried to shove and ignore all that like usual as he pushed the doors to his university's natatorium open. But he felt he wasn't strong enough to do so and let the feelings take him as the doors slammed open, hitting the wall. 

* * *

Rin stared wide-eyed at his phone as he watched his call with Haruka end.

_ I love you _ . He heard Haru say in proper English that anyone hearing that would think he was fluent. It fell out of his lips so naturally and so  _ right _ . And it was directed to Rin. And the look Haruka gave him as he said those words was so foreign to Rin and he wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing.

But Rin also knew he was just pretending. Haruka would always go above and beyond without even realizing it as long as he's helping a friend. 

A friend. That's all Rin would be to him anyway. But that didn't stop him from having the inkling of hope that maybe, Haru would say it to him with meaning. Rin has harboured feelings for Haruka for as long as he's known him. Of course he never said anything about it because he wasn't even sure if Haruka looked at  _ anyone _ romantically. He especially didn't want to say anything for the sake of their friendship that they worked so hard to rebuild. So he kept it to himself and settled for loving Haruka from afar. Any further thoughts were interrupted by Brent who he almost forgot was still beside him. 

_ "I guess I should've taken your rejections seriously. You could’ve told me ya had a boyfriend from home!"  _ He said. 

_ "Ah… well…"  _

_ "Don't worry. I'll back off from now on. For real this time. It's clear how much the two of you love each other, I can see it in his and your eyes. Who am I to get in the way of that?" _

_ "Oh. Um. Thank you. And, I'm sorry."  _

_ "Nothin' to be sorry about! Well, I'll leave ya to it. See you around, Rin."  _

Rin waved weakly and simply stared at Brent's retreating form. His heart was wildly beating against his chest and brought a hand up to it in hopes that it would calm him. But Brent's words rang so loudly in his mind. 

_ It's clear how much the two of you love each other, I can see it in his and your eyes. _

Did he really? Rin had no doubt that Brent saw it in him. But in Haruka? Maybe whatever this Australian bloke saw was a trick of the camera. Or the light. Or the pixels. It must be the pixels. Because Rin can't fathom the thought of Haruka looking at him  _ like that. _

He sighed and slowly walked to the gym to do his land training and hopefully get his mind cleared before he has to talk to Haru again later. Especially when those blue eyes had urged Rin to just before he said goodbye. 

_ I love you. _

It looped like a broken record. But hearing those words in Haru's soft and soothing voice made Rin's heart to backflips and summersault all over the vicinity of his chest. 

_ I love you. _

Maybe it was Rin's hopeful imagination that he  _ heard _ Haru mean it; that he gave the weight of eight simple letters its proper due. And he didn't know what to do. Every time he'd replay Haruka saying it, it made it harder for him to rationalize why he mustn't confess. 

With a huff of frustration, he went into the gym and straight to the locker rooms, gearing up and putting his stuff away. He did his necessary stretches before starting his work out and decided to begin with weight training. And though his body was doing the work out– purely out of muscle memory, his mind was somewhere else entirely. Blue eyes, the slightest of smiles, messy dark hair and the perfected freestyle swimming. 

It honestly should have put him off his training. The unwelcome thoughts of his long time crush usually did that, but today, it motivated him more. Working hard, but not too much that he'll overexert himself. Just enough so that he'll have something to prove to Haruka. To prove that, 'hey, my feelings for you won't distract me from swimming my best and instead, fuel my desire to beat you.' 

So maybe, a confession might not be such a bad idea.

* * *

Rin took risks. He took a lot of them coming to Australia the first time and even now. He prides himself in that since most of the risks he took worked out in the end. He was confident in his decisions for the most part and approached everything with a graceful stride. And though he made the executive decision of being honest with his feelings earlier, his body was wracked in nerves and could barely keep a steady hold on his phone. 

Haruka had just finished practice and was on his way home, which gave Rin about fifteen minutes to find the proper words to convey his feelings. He knew the risks of it all; confessing, that is. The fact that Haruka might not reciprocate. The possibility of having their friendship torn apart again. The chance of Haru being repulsed by him. The negative possibilities were endless, but so are the positive ones.

Because if it worked out, then his dream of swimming with Haru would pull through, he'd finally be able to call the man of his dreams his, their relationship would be far stronger, they'd keep pushing each other to be the best version of themselves, and Rin can say I love you to him.  _ With meaning. _

And if the results swung that way, then the risk would be more than worth it. 

Meanwhile, Haruka walked up the steps to his apartment two at a time and swiftly made it to his door. Once he got inside and set everything down, he pulled his phone out and as if on cue, it rang. He waited after two rings until he answered. 

"Rin."

“H-hey, Haru.”

“You look constipated.” 

“Shut UP. How was practice?” 

“Good. I beat my PB again.”

“Of course you did.”

“How was your land training,  _ boyfriend?” _

Rin groaned, masking his flustered state with it from Haruka’s teasing. He grumbled out a ‘fine’ and a lecture telling him to be on top of his land training too. Haru tried very hard not to roll his eyes and just huffed out a ‘whatever.’ 

“By the way, Haru… Thanks for just… going along with earlier. I know it must’ve been… weird.” Rin rubbed the back of his neck nervously, a habit Haru sees as endearing.

“It’s fine.” 

“Aren’t you… weirded out?” 

“Why would I be?” 

Rin blinked at him. Of course Nanase Haruka wouldn’t be weirded out by that and Rin huffed in familiar disbelief. A short silence danced between them, unsure of where to take their conversation next. Rin figured now’s the best time to let his feelings out and cleared his throat rather awkwardly. 

“Haru.”

“Rin.”

Apparently, Rin wasn’t the only one who had something to say. 

“You go first.” Haruka offered. 

“No, you can go.” 

“Yours seems more urgent.” 

“Any conversation  _ you _ initiate is more urgent, so Nanase, you go first.” 

“Rin.”

“Haru.” 

“Rock, paper, scissors.”

“Ugh. Fine.” 

The two of them played best two out of three with Rin losing in the end.

“Oh come on! It’s the camera delay, okay?” He reasoned.

“Rin.”

“Okay, okay.” He took a deep breath and ran a hand down his face and looked at the ground. Haruka waited patiently and watched Rin collect himself and plopped himself onto his bed while keeping his eyes on the alluring man in his phone screen.

“Haru… You know I’ve always admired you, right?”

“I’ve been told once or twice.” 

Rin rolled his eyes but let a small smile play on his features. “It’s just… that admiration goes beyond what it really means, you know? And it’s probably best if I had told you this in person, but after today, after  _ hearing _ you say ‘I love you’ in English, no less, it’s like the need to tell you how I feel became unbearable. And I wondered the whole time I did my land training, how you would sound like if you said it with meaning. How you’d sound if you said it in Japanese. I wanted to know how it feels if you  _ really _ said it in every sense of its meaning, directed at me. I wanted to know what you would look like if you told me you love me…”

Haruka listened to every word Rin said. Took them in and absorbed it, mapping it out in his brain to stay. And he felt the same way, he knew. He just wasn’t as good as Rin when it came to vocalizing the feeling. Rin was looking at him now with expectant ruby eyes that burned through him, as if he was looking at Haru’s very soul. He thought of his reply carefully and looked Rin right in his eyes as he settled on one. 

“Don’t you know already?” A simple question-made-answer that held more weight than a normal confession would and it knocked the air out of Rin’s lungs. Haruka held his gaze, looking calm and steady, but his heart was threatening to come out of his chest. Rin’s eyes were wide and filled with a mixture of emotions that knew no range. 

“Haru… I…” 

“For what it’s worth, had I lost our game, I would’ve just said ‘I love you’ again in hopes that you’d know I meant it since I’m not the best in… expressing my feelings using words. You were always better at that than… anyone, really.” 

And Rin is crying softly. Slow trails of tears decorating his cheeks in a straight line and Haruka wanted to bring his hand up to his face and wipe it away. Or maybe even kiss it away. Rin sniffled and hastily cleared his face, composing himself just a little bit. 

The both of them never really used to mind the distance between them, not anymore. But right now, they wanted nothing more than to close that distance and hold each other, finally letting out the pent up longing they tried so hard to maintain and keep. With everything out in the open, their want for each other had only increased. Rin sputtered out promises of returning soon while Haruka said he’d simply wait for him like he always had. 

“What does this make us?” Rin asked after they’ve settled their hearts down into a more comfortable rate. 

“ _ Boyfriends. _ ” Haru said in English, his tone teasing, making Rin smile. 

“Yeah, okay. Do you think we can manage? Distance and all…” 

“We’ve been through worse, Rin. We’ll be okay.” 

That coming from Haru was more reassuring than anything and Rin’s heart swelled with fondness and newfound confidence in their relationship. 

"So will this Brent guy leave you alone?" Haru asked after a moment. 

"He said he would." 

Haruka hummed in response and Rin grinned. "Why? You jealous?" 

"I'm not." Haru pouted. 

"Sure." 

"Let me know if he doesn't though."

"What are you gonna do if he doesn't? Fly here and beat him up?"

"...Maybe."

"Not with those muscles you aren't. Land training is good for you, Nanase!" 

Haruka's pout deepened and Rin laughed. The two of them talked the night away, Rin doing most of it, indulging themselves in their new and ever-growing relationship. And in the weird instances of little lies turning out good, Haru was thankful that this lie became true.

**Author's Note:**

> My [Twitter](https://twitter.com/SOUM4KI)
> 
> I hope you enjoyed!!


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